


The Marauders: What Could Have Been

by lexyvey



Series: The Marauders: Until the Very End [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 1970s, Gryffindor, Hogwarts First Year, Hurt Remus Lupin, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Peter Pettigrew is a Marauder, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, The Whomping Willow (Harry Potter), Werewolf Remus Lupin, Young James Potter, Young Lily Evans Potter, Young Peter Pettigrew, Young Remus Lupin, Young Sirius Black
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:43:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29688309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lexyvey/pseuds/lexyvey
Summary: A collection of one shots taking place during the marauders' time at Hogwarts and in the Order of the Phoenix. These moments may or may not be included in the marauders book series and may end up as more of a deleted scenes book of what could have been. Inside are the ideas that inspired me to start writing the series.DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter or the characters used in this book. They belong to JK Rowling. I also do not support JK's transphobic views. Love the art, just not the artist.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter & Severus Snape, Marauders & Lily Evans Potter, Marauders & Minerva McGonagall, Marlene McKinnon & James Potter, Minerva McGonagall & James Potter, Regulus Black & Sirius Black, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter, Sirius Black & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter, Sirius Black/Marlene McKinnon, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: The Marauders: Until the Very End [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2166747
Kudos: 5





	1. I Was Sick

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Marauders: The Haunting of Shrieking Shack](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29497983) by [lexyvey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lexyvey/pseuds/lexyvey). 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hogwarts First Year  
> Characters: Lily Evans and Remus Lupin

Remus walked laughing beside his friends as a certain redhead approached him.

"Hey guys, give me a minute?" he asked them. They all shrugged their shoulders and nodded before leaving their friend be. It wasn't like they wanted to be there for the conversation anyways. They hadn't quite gotten along with Lily much. James and Sirius always butted heads with her, and Peter always took their side. It didn't matter what they said, he always worshiped the ground James and Sirius' feet walked on. It didn't even matter to either party if they did have a mutual friend, the second one of them said a word things became heated.

"Where were you? You missed class, again," Lily pointed out to him. She looked a mix of concerned and annoyed at the same time.

Remus just shrugged and brushed off the girl's observation as he told her,

"I was sick." To help further his point the boy coughed. It was obviously fake, and he knew Lily would see right through it, but he coughed anyways, and Lily nodded her head skeptically not buying what Remus was selling.

"Right. And what were you sick from, might I ask?" There were only two different ways this conversation could go at this point: Lily getting aggravated and storming off mad at him, or he could play it as funny. He decided on the latter.

"You've seen the idiots I dorm with, right?" Remus said as he rolled his eyes for dramatic effect. He knew that if he made fun of his friends, Lily was always quick to forgive. It's not like he didn't like them, but sometimes they did make him want to be "sick."

Lily laughed at the comment causing Remus to join in.

"I think I might be coming down with whatever it is you had," she said before giving him her best fake cough. "Looks like I might just be out for the rest of today's classes," she mentioned before breaking into a coughing fit. In between which, she added, "oh, I might even have to miss dinner with Potter and them. What a shame. Well, I guess I should probably get some rest."

Remus laughed at Lily, smiling, he told her,

"Yes, you do that."

"So I can recover, of course," she informed her friend.

"Of course."

Lily and he laughed before parting ways heading to the different ends of the corridor as they headed to their next class.


	2. 100% Wool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hogwarts First Year  
> Characters: Sirius Black and Remus Lupin

It was just Remus Lupin and Sirius Black left at Hogwarts over Christmas break. Sure, there were other students, and the teachers all remained at the school as well, but in terms of what marauders had spent their Christmas at Hogwarts: It was just Remus and Sirius. Sirius had dread coming home over the break since things weren’t looking good for him back home and Remus stayed with the boy because he knew Sirius was never well when he was left alone – neither was Remus. The two spent the break playing games, raiding the kitchens, and exploring the castle to learn new secret passages. It was a good break, but finally, the day had come.

Sirius flew the curtains of his bed open and jumped straight out running over to Remus’. He tore the boy’s curtains open too and jumped on the werewolf shaking the bed as much as possible in hopes to wake him up. Remus was never much of a morning person. He hated being woken up because it always put him in a poor mindset for the rest of the day, but today was different. Today was Christmas.

“Wake up!” Sirius shouted as he shook the boy one last time. Remus grunted and pushed him off the bed though. He smiled to himself when he heard the loud thud when Sirius hit the floor. As Sirius made way to get up rubbing his sore elbows, Remus sat up and laughed at the overly dramatic boy.

“Ow.”

Remus laughed. Sirius broke into a smile which quickly spread to both of his ears.

“Happy Christmas Re!”

“Happy Christmas,” Remus spoke before a yawn took over. Sirius wasn’t even tired, he was practically jumping but once he saw the werewolf yawn, he found himself returning it. He just couldn’t help it. The stupid thing was contagious.

As Remus stretched, Sirius went over to his bed, and under his nightstand sat a present. He grabbed the present and made his way over to Remus once more. Remus was finally making his way out of bed and stood on the floor when Sirius handed him the box wrapped in red with a golden ribbon tied around it for a bow.

“Here, open it,” Sirius directed the boy. Remus simply gave a grateful smile to the wizard before delicately removing the bow, that he didn’t want to destroy. “Stop torturing me and just tear already!” Sirius laughed. Remus shrugged his shoulders before tearing the paper into pieces as he made his way to what laid underneath. He opened up the bow and there sat a jumper. It was grey and had one large maroon stripe running horizontally over the chest. It was perfect. “It’s made of 100% wool.”

Sirius beamed as he told the werewolf this, and Remus smiled back slightly confused as to why he mentioned that tidbit. He didn’t care enough to ask though; he was too busy admiring the jumper his friend had just given him.

“Well, it’s wonderful,” Remus compliments as he pulls the jumper over his arms and head, sliding it over his pajamas. He looks down and smiles, admiring the jumper further until he hears Sirius silently laughing. Now Remus was incredibly confused. He made his way over to the bathroom to look in the mirror, thinking he had just been pranked, but when he peered inside the bathroom, the mirror showed nothing out of the ordinary.

“What?” You do something to it?” Remus asked, but the grey-eyed boy only shook his head laughing even harder. “Well, what then?” At this point, Sirius’ laughter was too amusing that Remus began laughing too at the situation, even though he had no idea what was occurring.

“What’s so funny?”

“You’re a wolf,” Sirius paused half-way through his sentence as he got held up in a laughing fit. Once it ended, he continued barely keeping himself together as he said, “in sheep’s clothing.”

Remus and Sirius were both sitting on the floor laughing as they leaned against each other for support. Eventually, they managed to collect themselves, but that took a while. Once they did, however, Remus handed Sirius his gift and they headed down to breakfast.

The rest of the break went by fast, but almost every day Remus wore the jumper. It was his new favorite thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in my other work (The Marauders: The Haunting of Shrieking Shack), I spent one chapter talking about how Remus had felt like a wolf in sheep's clothing pretending to be just another wizard when he wasn't like the others. In a later chapter, Sirius is nicknamed the Black Sheep after his family and how he's a disappointment to his family for not getting into Slytherin.  
> This chapter was inspired by those two events because Remus (the wolf) is given a sweater by Sirius (the sheep). He's the wolf in Sirius (the sheep's) clothing.  
> The thought just made me laugh, so I decided to make a little one shot out of it. Hope y'all enjoyed it.


	3. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hogwarts Fifth Year  
> Characters: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Madam Pomfrey, and James Potter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath of the incident concerning Severus Snape and the whomping willow during the Marauders' fifth year at Hogwarts.

Sirius Black played many characters, his favorite: Hogwarts Sirius Black. He got to do everything the Black Heir never could. He made his own choices. He was free and he didn’t care what people thought. He never asked permission, he just did, and it felt great. It felt like a dream, but it only takes a second for a dream to become a nightmare. And that’s exactly what happened.

Sirius sat on his bed looking down at his hands as he fidgeted nervously with them. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, stained all over his clothes. He felt awful. This was a nightmare, but it wasn’t the kind he would just jolt awake from. No, this one he was living.

Sirius didn’t even notice as James walked into the dorm. His head was running wild, and he couldn’t see through the tears in his eyes to see the boy anyway. It wasn’t until James cleared his throat that Sirius finally met the boy’s face.

James just stood in front of his bed. He was mad, unbelievably mad. His hands were at his sides as he clenched fists, then released, then repeated. His face was red with rage, but Sirius could see he was trying hard to collect himself before he began to speak. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair in frustration before sitting beside Sirius.

“What you did,” James strained to say, “it’s inexcusable. This was _Moony_ , Pads,” his voice broke and tears began to form in the messy-haired boy’s eyes. Sirius kept shaking his head desperately just repeating over and over again barely above a whisper,

“I know. I know. I’m sorry.”

James hugged the boy and they both latched onto another for dear life before they broke apart and James collected himself again.

“Nothing makes it justifiable, but you didn’t do it for no reason, so why?”

“I don’t know. I was just so _angry_ and _mad_. I don’t even remember. He said something about Reggie, and I –” his voice broke as Sirius began to cry once more. No matter how enraged and disappointed James was in his friend, he hugged him. He rubbed circles on the boy’s back as he sobbed. He couldn’t tell Sirius that everything was going to be ok, he couldn’t say that it wasn’t his fault, he couldn’t lie to the boy and tell him he’ll be fine, but he still did everything to comfort him. For he knew the boy needed it, and no matter how mad he was, he would never leave a friend in need.

* * *

Remus woke up in the hospital wing that morning in the same bed he always had, but unlike every other time, the wing was silent. Remus looked around but none of his friends were there. Something was wrong. They were always there. Why weren’t they there?

Remus looked down to check himself for injuries, but he looked ok. He was panicked now. He jumped out of the bed and flew the curtains open. He couldn’t breathe. The room was spinning. But he didn’t care. Where were his friends?

He felt a hand on his shoulder and spun around to see Madam Pomfrey. She was telling him to calm down, but Remus couldn’t hear that. All he heard was ringing in his ears as it tried to drown out what she was telling him. Her face was filled with regret and pity as she ushered him over back to his bed. Everything was a blur. He couldn’t wrap his head around it. That couldn’t be real. But it was, and it happened.

He sat there for a good ten minutes soaking in the news before getting up again and leaving. His legs were so weak and barely kept him up, but so long as he kept moving it didn’t matter. He wanted to go straight to the dorm, but as he walked he passed one of the mirrors and saw the blood in his hair. So, he took a detour. He went straight towards the bathrooms and turned the sink knobs all the way, frantically. He scooped the water in his hands and threw it on his hair. When he looked into the mirror, he saw the tears as they cascaded down the sides of his face and the blood mixed with water on his hands, and he only cried more. He didn’t even manage to get all the blood out before he fell to the floor. He had no intention of getting up anytime soon. He sat there for almost thirty minutes before standing up and rinsing his hair once more.

Once that was done, he stood in front of the mirror starring at his reflection. At the bandages on his arms and chest. At the bloodstains on his jumper that would never come out. At the scars near his collarbone and behind his ear. Each one another reminder of the monster he truly was. There was no hiding it now. What was the point? By the end of the day, everyone would have already known what happened and Remus would be sent on the next train out. If he was lucky, he’d get to go home, but Remus didn’t feel lucky right now. Chances are, he wouldn’t even make it to the train before someone killed him and hung his dead body on the school’s quidditch pitch for all to see. A warning to all: a monster on display.

* * *

Eventually, Remus left the bathroom. Eventually, he arrived at the portrait of the fat lady. Remus hardly remembered though. His body was on autopilot at this point as he told her the password and made his way up the stairs to the dorm. It wasn’t until Remus opened the door and saw a red-eyed Sirius sitting next to James that everything hit him at full force once more. Like a tidal wave of every different emotion, he could possibly feel. He looked at Sirius seething with anger, to which he looked back in guilt.

Remus began making his way to the boy when James jumped on the bed and stood between the two. Even though James knew Sirius deserves it, he didn’t feel like pulling them off each other so instead, he stood in the way preventing it. Remus simply stared over James’s shoulder at the boy in cold anger. Remus never felt so much hatred in his life towards Sirius – towards anyone.

But he knew he could never raise a hand at his friend. Or that he could never lay a finger on him without destroying himself further, so he walked over to his bed. He grabbed the lamb on his nightstand and threw it at the opposite wall. He yanked the chair for his desk and effortlessly whacked it against the poster bed as it splintered apart. He screamed in anger as he punched the walls until his knuckles bled. He kicked the trunk at the end of his bed, over and over again, as he looked up at the two boys.

James was silently crying. He was shaking in fear of Remus and what he was doing, and Remus just breaks. James doesn’t deserve this. He was scaring him, and James doesn’t deserve it.

Remus stormed over to the door before looking over at Sirius and asking,

“Was making me live my worst nightmare worth it? Was it worth it to make me the monster I tried so hard not to be?” Remus was full-on crying at this point but hysterically laughed at the Black boy causing him to flinch.

“I bet your parents would be so proud, Black.”

He didn’t stay to see the effect that statement would have on the boy as he left the room’s threshold and slammed the door behind him.


	4. The Babysitter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hogwarts Fourth Year  
> Characters: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and James Potter

Everyone always thought that the babysitter of the marauders was Remus, but anyone who knew what actually went on knew it had always been James. He cared so much for his friends and would never let anything happen to them. He’d go to the ends of the earth, and he’d bend over backward if it meant protecting them.

Peter was always easy to frighten and insecure. He was always afraid to speak up or go on adventures with the boys. He gave himself pep talks in the mirror about how today was the day he’d be brave. He thought nobody noticed, but James did. He was always watching out for his friend. James knew what going on outside the safe walls of Hogwarts. He couldn’t let Peter be so timid here when what waited for them when they left would be a thousand times worse. That’s why James convinced the boy to join in on all their crazy and stupid adventures the marauders’ had. He hoped that over time, Peter’s comfort level would grow, and one day he wouldn’t have to give pep talks to himself in the mirror before heading to breakfast. When James noticed the boy feeling insecure, he’d be sure to compliment him as well. He’d build the boy up and hype him up for the day as they headed to the great hall every morning. He did whatever he could to try and make Peter feel more confident and brave.

When Remus had been made a prefect in the boys’ fifth year, it was a total mistake. If you were wanting someone to keep the marauders in check, you chose James, not Remus. Remus lived in self-loathing and fear of the monster he felt he was, so he wasn’t about to be hated by his friends too – telling them no and deducting house points from them. Even if James, Peter, and Sirius never would hate him he still lived in fear that they’d all wake up one day and chose to. James never liked how Remus could ever think of that though, and he always made sure to express how much he supported his friend. And when Remus would make self-deprecating remarks, James was the first to call him out on it, reminding the boy that he wasn’t a monster. Remus made a lot of comments like that though, and James was always shutting the boy down. Over the years, Remus picking on himself lessened and with James’s help he began to see that he wasn’t a monster, but a friend.

Sirius never knew what was real and what was pretend. Everything Sirius did was an act, and he put on a damn good show, but James knew the truth. The person he was beneath the façade the boy put up. He knew how much he was hurting. He saw the signs when they’d all come back from break. How Sirius acted a bit off for the first few days after the break. He saw the scars his family left on him. The boy was crying out for help, but the character he played never let acted like there was a problem in the first place. That’s why James always reached out. That’s why James would wrestle the boy out of bed in the morning, helping him get ready for the day. That’s why he always offered for Sirius to come to spend time with his family over break instead. James knew Sirius needed help. But hey, you can lead a horse to water, but can’t force them to drink it. Even if Sirius never took James’s offers, he never gave up on his friend. James knew to always be around for him. It didn’t matter what was going on in his life, if Sirius needed him, he’d drop everything.

James was the babysitter of the group because no matter what was going on in his life, at the end of the day it revolved around his friends, and he always made sure to put his friends first. For they weren’t friends, they were brothers. They were marauders.


	5. Seven O'Clock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hogwarts Fifth Year  
> Characters: Sirius Black, Marlene McKinnon, and OC (Declan Oates)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The morning after the incident concerning the whomping willow as told from Marlene McKinnon's POV.

Marlene may not have known much of what really went on in the Marauders' lives, but she did know one thing: It was James. James was the sticking charm that kept them all together. Without him, the Marauders would fall apart. They were the best of friends, brothers, even. But the dynamic would never work without him.

James was the one to look after them and protect them. He was the one they always confided in. He was the babysitter, always watching over them. James would give anything for his friends, and to leave them in a time of need, to betray them was the worst thing a person could do in his eyes. 

When Marlene woke that morning and made her way to the great hall for breakfast, she knew something was wrong. The Marauders stuck together through thick and thin. And they sat together at breakfast every day. So, when Marlene saw James, Peter, and Remus sitting at the table simply moving the food on their plates, not eating it, looking like shit, she knew something was wrong.

Marlene knew that James never came down for breakfast without Sirius. He’d drag him out of bed if he had to, so when Sirius wasn’t sitting beside them, she knew something must have happened. James wouldn’t leave him upstairs alone — ever. Sirius must have fucked up badly, and if it was bad enough that he wasn’t at breakfast with them, it was hell for the rest of the school as well. Marlene looked at the rest of the hall, they all caught the Marauders’ mood it seemed. They were all depressed and quiet. _Shit_. She needed to fix this.

Marlene didn’t care what must have happened, all she knew was that she needed to bring them together again. She could have walked right up to James and asked them what the hell happened, but instead, she pivoted 180 degrees and walked straight out of the hall pushing the doors open and then running down to the common room. There was a reason James refused to leave Sirius alone, and if James wasn’t going to be there for the boy, she would. It didn’t matter what he did. If he wasn’t suspended or expelled, it couldn’t possibly be that bad. Right?

In the common room, Marlene waited at the stairs for Sirius to come down. When that didn’t happen, she waited for the next boy too.

“Hey, mind doing me a favor? I’ll pay you 5 galleons.” She insisted.

“What’s it you need?” He asked with a thick Irish accent. He was one of the sixth years, tall and lean. He had light brown curly hair and freckles covering his face and a smile that could light up a room.

“I need you to get Sirius Black down here.”

“10,” the boy demanded.

“ _10_?” she questioned disbelievingly.

“And a date. Sirius Black doesn’t get up unless he wants to. It’ll be damn near impossible, so make it worth my while,” the boy slyly told her while smirking.

“Fine. Seems only fair,” she told the boy. She was desperate and the boy was easy on the eyes anyway, so she didn’t mind. Besides, anyone who had the nerve to negotiate with her like that was automatically more fit. 

“Seven o’clock tomorrow work? Meet here?”

Marlene smiled and nodded as to say ‘yea, sounds great.’

The boy smiled and walked back upstairs. Marlene patiently waited in one of the comfy chairs near the fireplace for about 25 minutes before Sirius began walking down the stairs with the sixth-year behind him preventing him from turning back around. He now looked like shit, with his hair all out of whack and his robes all messed up and wrinkled, tie out of place.

‘ _Damn_ , he wasn’t kidding,’ Marlene thought to herself.

“Seven o’clock tomorrow?” He asked.

“I’ll be here,” she told him as he walked over to the portrait smiling back at the girl. Marlene debated alerting him about his appearance but that would just ruin the moment. She watched as he left and when the portrait door finally closed, she looked up at Sirius.

“He’s fit,” he told her smiling slyly at the girl.

“Shut up. I don’t even know his name yet.” She told as she nudged the boy playfully. If Marlene hadn’t already been to the great hall, she might have believed nothing happened with the boys. Sirius Black really did know how to put on a great show.

“Declan. He’s a year above us I believe.”

“Declan,” She repeated to herself amused, “ _Damn_ , he just keeps getting cuter.”

Sirius laughed at the girl and rolled his eyes.

“Ok, so I know something happened,” Marlene began. The boy’s face immediately dropped, “look I don’t need to know what happened. But, if I had to guess, you probably weren’t wanting to head to the great hall for breakfast, am I right?” The boy nodded as small as possible before Marlene continued. “So, how about we head to the kitchens instead. You need breakfast. And if you’re not going to eat, you can _at least_ give me company as I do, seeing as how I lost 10 galleons and about 30 minutes to try and get you down here.”

“Not to mention seven o’clock tomorrow,” the boy joked.

“See, that one I don’t mind though,” she informed the boy as they made their way through the portrait and began heading for the kitchens.


End file.
